Biological Activities Of Plant Food Components

Epidemiological evidence from the last fifty years has demonstrated that nutrition plays a decisive role in human health. Eating properly is not only necessary to meet energy demands. It also actively contributes, through both preventive actions and therapeutic effects, to improving human wellness. Nutrition owes its functional role in human health to the biological activity of specific, small dietary molecules. Plants are the most important source of bioactive molecules, and dietary phytochemicals are mainly responsible for the documented protective effects of diets which are rich in plant foods. Dietary phytochemicals have attracted increasing interest in human nutrition research over the past few years due to their ability to exert several biological effects that are potentially useful for human health, In this Special Issue, the biological activity of dietary phytochemicals, either purified or in extracts from plant foods, and their potential effects on human health are addressed and investigated.

Changes in lifestyle and demographics shifted preferences about the relationships between food and health, contributing to generate new needs in the food supply. Today, the role of food is not only intended as hunger satisfaction and nutrient supply, but also as an opportunity to prevent nutrition-related diseases and improve physical and mental well-being. There is a growing interest in the novel or less well known plant foods that offer an opportunity for health maintenance. This book shows that an interest in plant foods and underutilized fruits is continuously growing, and agrobiodiversity exploitation offers effective and extraordinary potentialities. Readers will discover that plant foods could become an important source of health-promoting compounds and functional food ingredients with beneficial properties. The description of the quality and physicochemical traits, the identification and quantification of the main biologically active compounds, and the evaluation of their biological activities are important to assess plant food efficacy as functional foods or a source of food supplement ingredients for the consumers.

With ever-increasing health consciousness among consumers in the worldwide in the last decades, great attention has been paid on the application of biotechnology methods in the agricultural and food industry. Especially for plant-based foods production, which exhibit co-benefits to human the health and climate. Traditional fermented foods play a crucial role in human diets around the world because of their unique flavors, great nutritional value, and health-beneficial effects. Fermentation is one of the most traditional but still prevalent bio-processing approaches in the food industry, with the great potential to improve the flavor, sensory, nutritional value and biological activity (including antioxidant capacity, anti-cancer, anti-diabetic anti-inflammatory, regulating intestinal flora properties) of food products. The application of microbial food processing method has attracted the interest of researchers and industries due to its simple, environmentally friendly, and cost-efficiently advantages. The use of fermentation and selected generally recognized as safe (GRAS) starters, such as lactic acid bacteria, yeasts and filamentous fungi has been considered as an excellent method to improve the nutritional value or biological activity of foods by the biosynthesis/biotransformation/generation of bioactive compounds (e.g., phenolic compounds, oligosaccharide), or by the degradation of anti-nutritional factors. In the last years, the exploitation of microbes isolated from traditional fermented foods or as the result of the inoculation of selected starters was conducted to produce novel fermented plant-based foods with beneficial viable microorganisms and/or their metabolites that positively impact on human health. This Research Topic aims to focus on the application of microorganisms in processing of fermented plant-based foods to improve nutritional profile and/or biological activity. In particular, it is welcome focusing on matrices fermentation by beneficial microorganisms, processing for food substrate/by-product valorization, augmentation of food matrix bioactive compounds via fermentation. We invite authors to submit different types of manuscripts (e.g., Original Research Articles, short communications, and Review Articles) that focus on but are not limited to the following topics:  Microbial metabolic pathways associated with the accumulation of bioactive compounds of fermented foods.  Innovative fermentation approaches to improve the nutritional and functional properties in the final products.  Valorization of plant-based food matrices/by-products via fermentation.  Plant-based anti-nutritional factors degradation by microorganisms.  Development of high added-value and novel fermented products.  Production of bioactive compounds with health beneficial effects.  Human intestinal flora simulated effect on plant-based food.

Phytochemicals are plant derived chemicals which may bestow health benefits when consumed, whether medicinally or as part of a balanced diet. Given that plant foods are a major component of most diets worldwide, it is unsurprising that these foods represent the greatest source of phytochemicals for most people. Yet it is only relatively recently that due recognition has been given to the importance of phytochemicals in maintaining our health. New evidence for the role of specific plant food phytochemicals in protecting against the onset of diseases such as cancers and heart disease is continually being put forward. The increasing awareness of consumers of the link between diet and health has exponentially increased the number of scientific studies into the biological effects of these substances. The Handbook of Plant Food Phytochemicals provides a comprehensive overview of the occurrence, significance and factors effecting phytochemicals in plant foods. A key of objective of the book is to critically evaluate these aspects. Evaluation of the evidence for and against the quantifiable health benefits being imparted as expressed in terms of the reduction in the risk of disease conferred through the consumption of foods that are rich in phytochemicals. With world-leading editors and contributors, the Handbook of Plant Food Phytochemicals is an invaluable, cutting-edge resource for food scientists, nutritionists and plant biochemists. It covers the processing techniques aimed at the production of phytochemical-rich foods which can have a role in disease-prevention, making it ideal for both the food industry and those who are researching the health benefits of particular foods. Lecturers and advanced students will find it a helpful and readable guide to a constantly expanding subject area.

It is now well accepted that the consumption of plant-based foods is beneficial to human health. Fruits, vegetables, grains, and derived products can be excellent sources of minerals, vitamins, and fiber and usually have a favorable nutrient-to-energy ratio. Furthermore, plant foods are also a rich source of phytochemicals such as polyphenols, carotenoids, and betalains, with potential health benefits for humans. Many epidemiological studies have made a direct link between the consumption of plant foods and health. Human intervention studies have also shown that higher intake/consumption of plant foods can reduce the incidence of metabolic syndrome and other chronic diseases, especially in at-risk populations such as obese people. In addition to its health benefits, plant foods are also used as functional ingredients in food applications such as antioxidants, antimicrobials, and natural colorants. The Special Issue “Foods of Plant Origin” covers biodiscovery, functionality, the effect of different cooking/preparation methods on bioactive (plant food) ingredients, and strategies to improve the nutritional quality of plant foods by adding other food components using novel/alternative food sources or applying non-conventional preparation techniques.

Changes in lifestyle and demographics shifted preferences about the relationships between food and health, contributing to generate new needs in the food supply. Today, the role of food is not only intended as hunger satisfaction and nutrient supply, but also as an opportunity to prevent nutrition-related diseases and improve physical and mental well-being. There is a growing interest in the novel or less well known plant foods that offer an opportunity for health maintenance. This book shows that an interest in plant foods and underutilized fruits is continuously growing, and agrobiodiversity exploitation offers effective and extraordinary potentialities. Readers will discover that plant foods could become an important source of health-promoting compounds and functional food ingredients with beneficial properties. The description of the quality and physicochemical traits, the identification and quantification of the main biologically active compounds, and the evaluation of their biological activities are important to assess plant food efficacy as functional foods or a source of food supplement ingredients for the consumers.

Plant extracts are widely used for therapeutic purposes. The vegetal origin of these products satisfies people’s desire to cure themselves with natural drugs; this aspect, together with effectiveness and regulatory opportunities, is the base of the broad modern use of medicinal plants. Traditional uses and novel biological effects allow the availability of an extraordinarily high number of different compounds with formidable therapeutic potential. Nevertheless, pitfalls are hidden behind poor pharmacological and toxicological knowledge of plant extracts, nonstandardized methods of extraction, and undefined and nonrepeatable qualitative and quantitative composition. In this context, novel experimental studies on plant products and appreciated and are necessary to reinforce the scientific soundness of phytotherapy. This book aims to respond to this medical need comprehensively highlighting the newest discoveries in vegetal resources with an emphasis on pharmacological activity.